After Hakuin Ekaku

A blind man, an ant and a serpent crossing a chasm on a log.

Slightly after Hakuin Ekaku,(白隠 慧鶴), 1686 - 1768, Zen Buddhist monk/artist. (He painted Two Blind Men Crossing a Log Bridge)

Hum. The snake will make it across OK, as will the ant -but the blind man?

Perhaps it as Goso said, “To give an example, it is like a buffalo passing through a window. Its head, horns and four legs have all passed through. Why is it that its tail cannot?” (By the way: Hakuin Ekaku felt this one one of the eight brain frying koans {Hachi Nanto} necessary to understand if one wants to get their journeyman union card as an enlightened Buddhist.)

Brushed ink (sumi-e) on "rice" paper, 13 1/2 by 24 inches. Unmounted.